Vandal Hearts

"Must have for strategical RPG fans!"

This game has done so much to try and beat Final Fantasy Tactics in the best strategy game for the PSX. This game far surpasses every tactical game to date except Final Fantasy Tactics. With a compelling storyline, great graphics, and awesome gameplay Vandal Hearts is just right behind Final Fantasy Tactics in every category.

Story: 10/10
The story is what makes his genre of games best. In Vandal Hearts you take control of Ash. Ash is one of the best soldiers his kingdom has ever seen, so was his father, but it is said his father was a traitor and not many people treat Ash well. The Kingdom establishes a ruthless league of knights named the Crimson Knights. The Crimson Knights become very power hungry and only you can stop them... of course this is not the main part of the main reason for Ash and his crew to continue fighting unfolds during the second half of the game.

Control: 9/10
The only problem i had with the control was that up means forward... not up, and left and right means turn it the respected direction, and back meant to go backwards. Everything else was fine and i got used to the awkward controls. Actually when i got used to them... I think they are better.

Graphics: 9/10
The character sprites are much better than Final Fantasy Tactics, as a matter of fact everything in this category except for the level designs were better than FFTactics! I love the beauty of this game and the larger character sprites so you can see each and every little detail on the characters. The only problem i had with this was the blood. The blood was a great addition, but poorly done. When a character died by a weapon(not a magic spell) the blood would gush out of a body and you could truly see the pain and anguish on the character's face. I got tired of the same animation every time i killed someone though. More blood animation would have been great... but whose complaining? Aside from the blood everything else was great!

Sound: 8/10
The sound is really great and the music scores are awesome... but also very repetitive! I found myself listening to the same music through out the game. There were about 10 diffrent scores, and about 35+ levels. You do the math, also there were about 15 towns. If you like the old classical homage music like i do, then great play it for all it's worth. Or if not grab a cd player fast! Of course you can turn the music off and leave the sound FX in. The Sound FX are incredible... simply put. The cling and clang of every sword, the jet stream the arrows make, and even the magic sounds amazing!

Cool Points: 10/10
This game scores so many cool points... I don't know where to start. The origin of the story is actually a not very popular norse legend. It had nothing to do with the norse gods, except the Ring of Fire. I don't want to reveal too much of the story but actually the legend says that Odin sealed all evil in a ring of fire that Thor made, there the evil burned for an eternity. It is said that the aura that surrounds the ring can turn people into evil beings... this game proves that. All of the characters are awesome and you can really relate to them in this game. The blood was cool, but you probably read my rant above. I think i gave this game so many cool points because i knew of the norse legend and no one else was familiar with it. I always loved the legend and am very happy I got to interact with it.

Overall: 9/10
This isn't an average. Only one game can be the best of a certain Genre and that is Final Fantasy Tactics. I highly recommend Vandal Hearts though because if you loved Tactics, this game will truly be one you will never forget. Buy this game... it is quite rare, but that is what the internet is for, also it is VERY inexpensive!

See you in the next episode!

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 02/21/03, Updated 02/21/03